


Missing Piece

by sonderwalker



Series: Writing Prompts [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27554191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonderwalker/pseuds/sonderwalker
Summary: Sent by Chancellor Palpatine to negotiate with the trade federation, Anakin and Obi-Wan head to Cato Nemoidia to negotiate a new deal.Only, things go a little sideways, and Anakin now knows how Padme felt the last time she came here.Or: Obi-Wan and Anakin go to Cato Nemoidia, and Anakin gets poisoned.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Writing Prompts [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1812892
Comments: 10
Kudos: 162





	Missing Piece

**Author's Note:**

> test run for a larger AU fic that I want to write later on where Anakin is appointed to be the chancellor's liaison on the jedi council at the beginning of the war

“I still think that going to Cato Nemoidia is a bad idea.” Anakin said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“The goal of the mission is to be able to negotiate with the trade federation, Anakin.” Obi-Wan said as he pulled his cloak over his shoulders.

“And perhaps, bring and end to this war,” He muttered softly.

“I just, don’t understand why we even have to talk to them. Everyone knows that they’re working with the separatists.” Anakin said, rolling his eyes.

“Well, not everyone,” Obi-Wan countered. “Although I am sure that many share your sentiment, there has yet to be ample proof provided in front of the senate and the courts.”

“Well, what do you think, Master?” Anakin asked, smirking.

“You don’t have to call me master anymore, Anakin.” Obi-Wan said, smiling slightly.

“I know, I know it’s just,” Anakin sighed. “Old habits die hard.”

“Well, I am sure that you will eventually start calling me Obi-Wan more often.” Obi-Wan said, placing a hand on Anakin’s shoulder and guiding him out of the door of their quarters.

“After all, you are on the Jedi Council now.

“Not by choice.” Anakin replied, frowning as they walked towards the lift.

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful but it’s just…” Anakin trailed off and sighed.

“I know.” Obi-Wan said as they stepped into the lift together. “It’s a lot of responsibility. I’m not sure if I could handle that much at your age.”

“Really?” Anakin asked, looking at him and raising an eyebrow.

“Really.” Obi-Wan replied. “When I was your age, I was still a padawan myself. Never mind having a padawan of my own, or being a general in a war, or sitting on the Jedi council before I turned twenty-one.”

Anakin looked away, his face heating up, but Obi-Wan gently turned his head so that they were looking eye to eye again.

“I am very proud of you, Anakin.” Obi-Wan said softly. Anakin smiled, and averted his eyes. Obi-Wan could feel his face heating up beneath his hands, but before he could say anything about it, the doors of the lift opened and they stepped away from each other, and into the temple hangar.

“Is there anything in particular that you have against Cato Nemodia?” Obi-Wan asked as they approached the ship they would be taking. It was small, with a minimal defense system, but that was the point.

“The last time I was there as part of Padme’s security detail, and she was poisoned.” Anakin replied while shrugging and walking up the ramp of the ship.

“So please forgive me for being slightly… suspicious.” He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I understand your apprehensions.” Obi-Wan replied as he boarded the ship after him.

“But the chancellor himself has requested that you go on this mission.” Obi-Wan pointed out. Anakin slid into the pilot seat, his shoulders sagging as he started the launch sequence.

“I know,” Anakin replied, staring out the viewport as he steered the ship out of the hangar and towards the stars.

Obi-Wan knew he shouldn’t have been surprised when things started to go wrong. But he had been holding his breath- the flight to Cato Nemoidia was uneventful, and he and Anakin had spent most of the time enjoying each other’s company in relative silence.

It was nice, and Obi-Wan wished that he had more time to just sit around with him and talk about whatever odd thing was on his mind, or silently read a holobook next to him. It reminded him of the times before the war, where they would get the occasionally lazy afternoon and spend it either in their common room or in one of the temple’s many gardens.

Even though the last time they had enough time to do that was a little under two years ago, it felt like a lifetime.

The chambers that the nemoidians had provided were also surprisingly nice, considering that Obi-Wan knew that Nute Gunray and his friends were not exactly… fond of Jedi.

Which is why he was kicking himself for not seeing the poison sooner.

* * *

It had all played out the way Obi-Wan was expecting it to- a lavish dinner that had far too much food. Anakin being annoyed at the entire process. Obi-Wan wishing that the alcohol was stronger. The nemoidians whispering to themselves. Anakin doing his best to not look as though he was about to fall asleep from boredom. More negotiations. A toast to their newfound friendships.

Nothing seemed wrong, but as they were heading back towards their ship to return to Coruscant, Obi-Wan felt as though something was off. He turned to look at Anakin, but he was no longer at his side, and instead was a few steps back, holding his head.

“Anakin, are you alright?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Yeah… I guess I’m just more tired than I thought I was.” Anakin replied, rubbing his eyes and moving to catch up with him. Obi-Wan sighed, Anakin did look tired. Since the war began, his dark circles never seemed to go away, and his hair always was messy to some degree.

He resisted the urge to brush a stray curl out of Anakin’s face.

“Perhaps you had too much to drink?” Obi-Wan asked, smiling slightly.

“I didn’t have any alcohol aside from the drink we had at the toast.” Anakin replied while shrugging.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure I just need to get some rest.” Anakin said, turning to face Obi-Wan and smiling. Obi-Wan sighed- he knew this was true. But he also hated the way his heartbeat seemed to speed up in his chest when Anakin looked at him like that, the morning sunlight catching in his hair.

“You do look exhausted,” Obi-Wan noted as Anakin turned to look at him again.

“That bad?” Anakin asked, wrinkling his nose. “And here I was thinking that I was the spitting image of beauty.”

He was, but Obi-Wan was not going to tell him that.

“You’ve been watching the holonet too much,” Obi-Wan said, rolling his eyes. Anakin laughed, and even though Obi-Wan loved how it sounded… it sounded off. But he couldn’t place why.

They boarded the ship in silence, and Obi-Wan kept a close eye on Anakin. Noticed how he was blinking more than usual. How his face seemed slightly flushed. How his hands shook as he went to grab the yoke and steer them off the planet’s surface.

Once they had entered hyperspace, Obi-Wan put a hand on Anakin’s shoulder.

“You should get some rest; I can handle it from here.” He said. He expected Anakin to object, to deny that something was wrong. Instead, he simply nodded and got out of the chair, and left the cockpit. There wasn’t much for Obi-Wan to do- Anakin had already put in the coordinates into the navigational computer, so now all he could do was wait until they arrived back in the core. He leaned over and grabbed a datapad that had been laying on the ground, opening it to see if there was anything interesting in the news.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been reading, but he was snapped out of it by the sound of violent retching. Obi-Wan quickly set the tablet down and leapt out of his seat, rushing towards the compact fresher on the ship.

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan called out as he knocked on the door to the fresher. He winced as he heard more retching and then waved the door open. He gently knelt down by Anakin’s side, rubbing slow circles on his back. After a moment, Anakin leaned back, sitting down on the cold metal floor, his knees drawn up to his chest, and his eyes were closed.

“Do you want me to get you some water?” Obi-Wan asked softly.

“Please.” Anakin replied, opening his eyes. Obi-Wan squeezed his shoulder before getting up and walking away.

When he came back, Anakin was no longer sitting up, and instead had curled up on the floor of the fresher, his arms wrapped around his torso.

“Here.” Obi-Wan said softly, shaking Anakin’s shoulder again and helping him sit up.

“Thanks.” Anakin whispered hoarsely as he grabbed the cup and took small sips.

“Do you feel like you’re going to be sick again?” Obi-Wan asked as he took the cup back. He tried not to frown at the fact that it only seemed to be half empty. Anakin shrugged.

“I don’t think so.” He said, exhaling slowly.

“How much longer until we’re back at the temple?” Anakin asked, blinking slowly. This time, Obi-Wan couldn’t resist the temptation of brushing a stray curl out of Anakin’s face, and loving the way Anakin seemed to lean into the touch. He kept his hand there, cupped around Anakin’s cheek and frowned.

“You feel too warm.” Obi-wan noted. Anakin shrugged.

“I probably just picked up some kind of bug.” He said as he sighed and closed his eyes. “I’m sure it’ll pass.” Obi-Wan sighed but didn’t say anything in return.

“Do you think you can stand on your own?” He asked as he got up from the floor. Anakin nodded, and Obi-Wan watched as he slowly picked himself up, leaning heavily on the wall. He reached his hand out, but hesitated, wanting to see if Anakin could stand on his own.

He let go of a breath that he didn’t even know that he was holding when he watched as Anakin stood up straight.

“Back to bed?” Obi-Wan asked. Anakin nodded.

“Lead the way then.”

After Anakin had laid back down, Obi-Wan went back to look at the navigational computer. They still had four hours left until they would be back on Coruscant, and despite Anakin trying to brush off whatever was going on, Obi-Wan was going to make him go to the halls of healing once they landed. He leaned back over, grabbing the datapad that he dropped on the floor, and opened up the article he was reading again, hoping that the rest of the trip would be uneventful.

However, two hours later, Obi-Wan found himself back at Anakin’s bedside, trying to get him to sit up to drink some water.

“Anakin, please.” Obi-Wan pleaded, holding the cup. “You’re dehydrated.” Anakin sighed and squeezed his eyes shut, before slowly reaching out to take the cup from Obi-Wan’s hand. But as soon as he turned to face it, he gagged, covering his mouth with his over hand. Obi-Wan quickly took the cup back from Anakin’s shaky grasp and ran a hand through Anakin’s hair.

“Feels nice.” Anakin mumbled, his voice cracking. His eyelids fluttered shut and he sighed.

“I need you to stay awake, dear one.” Obi-Wan said, hoping that Anakin wasn’t lucid enough to realize what exactly he had said.

“’m awake.” Anakin slurred. “Just tired.”

“I know.” Obi-Wan said, his other hand moving from running his fingers through Anakin’s sweat soaked hair to rubbing circles on his back, feeling the dry heat that was coming through the layers of clothing.

“We have to lower your temperature. If you won’t drink any water, can you take off your outer tunic?” Obi-Wan asked.

“’S cold though.” Anakin whined.

“It’s not cold, you are running a fever.” Obi-Wan countered. He sighed when Anakin looked at him with those big blue eyes.

“Please, Anakin.” Obi-Wan said softly. Anakin nodded and took of his outer tunic with Obi-Wan’s help. His undertunic was slightly damp with sweat, and Obi-Wan knew that Anakin must really be out of it if he didn’t even comment on how gross he felt. Obi-Wan leaned over and grabbed a cold pack that he had set on the edge of the bed earlier, activating it and placing it on Anakin’s forehead.

“Better?” Obi-Wan asked as Anakin laid back down on the bed.

“We’ll be back at the temple in under two hours.” He whispered softly, running his hands through Anakin’s hair, brushing back the curls that were sticking to his face. Anakin hummed in agreement; his brow still furrowed even as he tried to sleep.

* * *

It was the sudden decline that happened during their last thirty minutes of hyperspace that made Obi-Wan think that something else was wrong. While he had been suspicious before, it was when Anakin started to throw up his own blood was when he realized that this was no stomach bug.

Or no normal illness for that matter. He wiped away some blood from Anakin’s lip, who groaned weakly.

“I think that this is more than just a stomach bug, dear one.” Obi-Wan whispered.

“Maybe.” Anakin whispered back, opening his eyes slightly. “Sorry.”

“Do not apologize.” Obi-Wan said, brushing more hair out of Anakin’s face. “I should have noticed that something was off sooner.”

“’S not your fault.” Anakin replied, his eyes sliding shut again, his face contorting into an expression of great pain as he leaned over the side of the bed and threw up again into the bucket that Obi-Wan had placed there. It was more blood, but Obi-Wan tried not to think about how much he had lost already. Once he was done, and Obi-Wan had helped him wipe away more of the blood, Anakin opened his eyes.

“Love you.” He whispered, before his eyes closed again. Obi-Wan opened his mouth and then closed it again. He wanted to say it back. He wanted to tell Anakin that he meant the whole world, no- the entire galaxy to him. But instead, he felt the ship gently lurch forward and took one last look at Anakin before rushing back to the cockpit.

* * *

“You don’t have to sit up.” Obi-Wan said as he walked into Anakin’s quarters. He watched as Anakin set his head back down on the pillow with a slight huff. Obi-Wan sat down on the edge of the bed and ran his hand through Anakin’s hair, noticing how much softer it felt now that it wasn’t soaked in sweat. Or the way his curls seemed to spring back with each touch.

“I think I understand your aversion to Cato Nemoidia.” Obi-Wan continued while smile.

“Oh, now you understand.” Anakin replied, his voice still weak, but the sarcasm was still there.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!


End file.
